Father's Day
by PokeTail
Summary: Father's Day have never been a particularly happy day in the guild of Fairy Tail, but after recent event, the day is even more painful for three of our favourite slayers.


**Look, I know it isn't Father's Day, but this idea popped into my head and I didn't wanna wait to release this so... here you go. Enjoy!**

 **Oh, by the way, Spoilers for the end of Tartaros.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Lucy strolled into the guild hall with a sad smile present on her face expecting her guild mates to be caught up in one of their brawls. However, what she was met with was the quiet chit chat shared among tables. No cries of insults, no furniture being thrown across the room, no people making bets on the victor. Sure, the guild was still what could be considered noisy, but something felt... off, as if there was some sort of tension lingering in the atmosphere. Not thinking much of it, the celestial wizard made her way over to the bar to greet her favourite bartender and binge drinker.

"Afternoon Lucy," Mira brought over a smoothie for the blonde teen. "You're not usually this late to the guild."

"Yeah, what took you so long?" Cana added, swigging yet another mug of alcohol.

"Oh, I just had a quick visit to the cemetery to visit my father's grave, with it being Father's Day. It's times like this that must make you thankful Gildarts isn't around, Cana. This way you don't have to spend all your money on presents for him," she teased, chuckling slightly.

"Lucy..." Cana muttered, nodding her head to the end of the bar. Sat there, beverage untouched and head in his hands, was one of Lucy's trusted team mates, Gray Fullbuster. The raven wore a solemn look and refused to make eye contact with a single soul. Was this why no one was fighting? Lucy took a look around the guild only to realise that the ice wizard wasn't the only one in this state. Her own partner, Natsu Dragneel, had his head pressed against the table while his Exceed companion, Happy, gave him a sympathetic glance every now and then. Even Gajeel seemed to be in more of a mood that usual.

"Father's day isn't exactly the best time for most people," Mira whispered, her smile vanishing. "Even more so for those three considering the whole incident with Tartaros last year."

"Oh..." Lucy frowned. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She said her goodbye's too the girls and headed straight towards the dragon slayer.

"Hey guys," she greeted in her usual cheery voice. "How about we go on a job? It feels like forever since we've been on one."

"Sorry, Lucy. I'm not really feeling up for a job today, maybe tomorrow," Natsu forced on a smile, but Lucy could see straight through him. As if Natsu realised this, he rose from his seat, picked up his bag and slowly strode out of the guild. The blonde's features saddened, tears almost threatening to fall as the sight of her friend, no, her _best friend,_ suffering so much. Natsu managed to cross paths with the lightning wizard and the guild entrance. Laxus just sent a puzzled look his way before walking over to the bar to talk with his one and only grandfather, seemingly carrying something in his hands.

"Happy Father's Day, Gramps," Laxus looked away, slightly embarrassed, as he handed his grandfather the gift.

"Wow, to say I wasn't expecting this would be an understatement," Makarov chuckled. "Thanks you, Laxus."

The guild master unwrapped the delicate item and opened the box. Inside was a picture frame with an image of a very young Laxus stood with his grandfather on the day he'd joined Fairy Tail. The biggest grin plastered over both their faces; it was a memory Makarov truly loved.

"I love it," a tear escaped from the old man's eyelid and trickled down his face. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Laxus tried to pull off his 'not bothered' act, but even he couldn't help but smile and the happiness the present brought his grandfather. Gray was watching the event from afar as memories resurfaced of his father. The raven took this as his cue to leave and quickly slipped out before anyone could notice... Except Gajeel. The iron dragon slayer rolled his eyes before continuing to chomp on some metal, however, he couldn't mask his sadness from Levy as she knew he was really crying inside.

* * *

The day had gone by fairly quietly without the guild's signature brawlers around. By nightfall, Happy decided to go check on his partner as, after coming home from the guild earlier that day, the feline hadn't seen Natsu all day... and he knew why. A lot of things had changed since the incident with Tartaros, Natsu included. The humorous, naïve personality of the dragon slayer had altered slightly to a more serious one. Sure, he still cracked a joke every now and then, but it just wasn't the same. The teen in question was sat by the cliff side looking over Magnolia. Happy couldn't bring himself to speak up as even he knew that the salamander would be too lost in his own thoughts to hear him.

"Igneel," Natsu murmured, gripping his scarf. "I know you told me to be happy and keep looking towards the future but," he voice started shaking as he almost choked on his words. "It's too hard. There was so much I wanted to share with you. So much I wanted to do like our usual fights to help me get stronger and riding on your back while you fly across the continent." Tears were streaming down his face by this point, soaking his scaly scarf. "I miss you so much, dad!"

* * *

Gajeel was relaxing on his couch in his apartment whilst wait for Lily to finish in the bathroom. He hated to admit it, but the iron dragon slayer couldn't get the thought of Metalicana out of his head. He'd hated his dragon father after his disappearance and put up a façade to show people how little he cared for the dragon, however, it was clearly visible in his eyes that he still held love for Metalicana, no matter how deep he buried them inside. His vision moved over to his bedside table which held his most treasured relic. A tooth... but not just any tooth. This particular tooth had once belonged to the iron dragon himself. Metalicana had been training a young Gajeel in the ways of dragons and one day during one of their usual brawls, the black haired wizard had managed to pop the tooth right out of his jaw. After that, Metalicana decided to let the boy keep the tooth as a trophy of victory.

"Dammit, Metalicana," a single tear ran down his cheeks. "I miss you, bastard."

* * *

Gray had since fled Fiore for the evening to visit a place he held dear. The village he once called home was exactly how it was when he left it eleven - no, eighteen years ago. Neighbouring villages had agreed to leave the village untouched out of respect for the families who once lived there, but also the fact that no one wanted to remove the lifeless corpses from where they lay. Little did they know that a demon from Tartaros had taken any human that still held a bodily structure. Gray knelt next to the grave that his father had once made for him and his mother, but because of recent events, Gray had altered to grave to fashion his father's name instead of his own.

"Dad," multiple tendrils of tears were streaming down the raven's face well before he started talking. "I haven't stopped thinking about what's happened at Tartaros. I can't stop shaking the feeling off that there was something I could have done to save you. Don't worry, I made a promise to avenge you and I'm not gonna back down, no matter what. I won't rest until E.N.D. is dead, what those bastards did to you is unforgivable. It hurts too much to think about the utter hell they put you through, and it must have been hard for you knowing I was alive and not being able to do anything. I still can't believe that you were somewhat alive for seventeen years. I'll make you both proud of me, promise. I will crush E.N.D."

* * *

Three boys

Left alone to suffer in silence

It's amazing how one day can change someone's mood so drastically.

* * *

 **You know, I was actually thinking of finishing this one-shot on a happier note but... this happened instead.**

 **Don't forget to drop a review by, much appreciated.**

 **See ya! ;)**


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